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America's largest and smallest employers led continued modest job
creation in September, with much of the private sector continuing
to show a hesitancy to hire.

Private-sector payrolls rose just 166,000 in September, well
below the 180,000 economists expected from the ADP National
Employment Report. It is yet another weak data point for the
national employment situation, which has yet to recover even as
some other economic figures have improved.

Any job growth was split between the nation's very biggest and
very smallest companies. Small businesses, defined by ADP as
those with fewer than 50 workers, reported a rise in payrolls of
74,000 in the month, buy 46,000 of those came from companies with
fewer than 20 employees.

On the flip side, companies with north of 1,000 workers added
59,000 jobs – and unusually high number, given that small
business has been the primary driver of payrolls in recent years.

In between, the job market remained flaccid. Medium-sized
businesses, defined by ADP as those with between 50 and 499
employees, added just 28,000 jobs nationwide in September.

The service sector continued to drive most job growth, though
construction and manufacturing saw modest gains. The financial
sector saw job loss of 4,000 payrolls in September, which ADP
suggested may be tied to talk of higher interest rates.

Typically, the ADP report is one of two key employment data
points released during the first week of each month, but it won't
be sharing the spotlight this time around. The Labor Department
is not expected to release its monthly report on the federal
employment situation because of the government shutdown.